INDIANAPOLIS— As the debate over the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage moves to the Indiana Senate, its first stop will be a committee whose membership includes the chamber’s leadership.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) announced Thursday he will refer House Joint Resolution 3 to the 12-member Senate Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee for a hearing the week of Feb. 10. Long, a Fort Wayne Republican, chairs the committee, which is one of the largest in the Senate because it sits an extra Republican and Democrat member along with the entire leadership group of both parties.
Initially, Long had indicated he would send the proposed ban to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has historically been heard. But he felt for an issue that is as “public” and “consequential” as the proposed constitutional amendment that the Rules Committee was the proper place.
However, Long said he prefers the committee not to amend the measure and instead send it to the full Senate to hear any possible changes. The Senate is receiving a changed version of the resolution because the Indiana House stripped out its second sentence which banned civil unions. What remains is a definition of marriage identical to state law as being between one man and one woman.
“I’d like to see a clean bill come to the floor of the Senate,” Long said. “I will say once on the floor any and all amendments will be considered and available.”
Long declined on Thursday to share his personal view of the amendment.
“I’ll certainly make my position known at the right time,” Long said. “Right now, it’s more important we be open about the fact we’re going to hear it and have a vote on it in (the Rules Committee.) I expect it to come to the floor and at that point we’ll all be making our positions known.”
If the Senate approves the House’s version, the earliest the proposed ban could go on the ballot for a statewide referendum is 2016. Changing the proposed amendment serves to restart the approval process, which requires two, separately-elected General Assemblies to agree to the same language.
If the Senate reinserts the civil unions ban, the House will either have to agree to those changes or the resolution will be sent to a conference committee.
The campaign manager of Freedom Indiana, a coalition formed against the proposed ban, said the organization’s strategy will remain the same as the Senate hears the proposal.
“We’d like to kill this thing out right,” Megan Robertson said, “and certainly we want to make sure the second sentence does not get added back in and we’ll do the same thing we’ve been doing which is constituents contacting legislators.”